World Kindness Day is this Friday, November 13th. I think the world can use a lot more kindness, especially right now! I am a huge proponent of intentional acts of kindness. Kindness is not only a nice thing to do, but it's been proven as instrumental in creating a life of happiness, positivity and wellness.
Kindness not only makes us and the recipient feel good, but it's contagious, it causes moral elevation. That warm and fuzzy uplifting feeling you get when you have witnessed human goodness, kindness, courage and compassion is called moral elevation.
Studies have found that the natural high of moral elevation makes people want to behave more altruistically toward others, causing compassion and kindness to be contagious. Elevation makes people optimistic about humanity, something we could use more of right now. Ripples of kindness not only cause a ripple in the direction of the person receiving, it also casts out ripples in the direction of the giver and all of who witness the act.
This ripple effect can extend out to 2 and 3 degrees of separation. Experiments with large numbers of people show that if you are kind and compassionate, your friends, your friends’ friends, and even your friends’ friends’ friends are more likely to become kind and compassionate. A powerful ripple of kindness!
Here's the thing, most people don't want to hurt others. What we really want is to live in a moral world where people treat each other well, and where we can satisfy our need for love, productive work, and a sense of belonging.
We get the sense that we do not live in such a moral world when we see people behave in petty, cruel, or in other unkind or selfish ways. But when we see a stranger perform a simple act of kindness for another stranger, it gives us hope that maybe we do live in a good world. It restores our sense of hope and goodness in humanity.
I love this quote by Scott Adams, "Remember there's no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end." Today and every day I invite you to ripple out intentional acts of kindness into the world. Let's lift each other up and restore optimism and hope that we live in a moral world.
Kindness not only makes us and the recipient feel good, but it's contagious, it causes moral elevation. That warm and fuzzy uplifting feeling you get when you have witnessed human goodness, kindness, courage and compassion is called moral elevation.
Studies have found that the natural high of moral elevation makes people want to behave more altruistically toward others, causing compassion and kindness to be contagious. Elevation makes people optimistic about humanity, something we could use more of right now. Ripples of kindness not only cause a ripple in the direction of the person receiving, it also casts out ripples in the direction of the giver and all of who witness the act.
This ripple effect can extend out to 2 and 3 degrees of separation. Experiments with large numbers of people show that if you are kind and compassionate, your friends, your friends’ friends, and even your friends’ friends’ friends are more likely to become kind and compassionate. A powerful ripple of kindness!
Here's the thing, most people don't want to hurt others. What we really want is to live in a moral world where people treat each other well, and where we can satisfy our need for love, productive work, and a sense of belonging.
We get the sense that we do not live in such a moral world when we see people behave in petty, cruel, or in other unkind or selfish ways. But when we see a stranger perform a simple act of kindness for another stranger, it gives us hope that maybe we do live in a good world. It restores our sense of hope and goodness in humanity.
I love this quote by Scott Adams, "Remember there's no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end." Today and every day I invite you to ripple out intentional acts of kindness into the world. Let's lift each other up and restore optimism and hope that we live in a moral world.
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